THE ORIGINS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY | Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

Critical race theory (CRT), a vital movement and discipline in American legal scholarship, has transformed our understanding of systemic racism. Yet despite insightful analysis revealing the threads of racism embedded in American institutions and society, it has been demonized by opponents at every turn, with numerous state legislators now seeking to ban its use in the classroom.

The Origins of Critical Race Theory weaves together the many sources of critical race theory, recounting the origin story for one of the most insightful and controversial academic movements in U.S. history. In addition to introducing readers to the tenets and key insights of critical race theory, Martinez and Smith explore the lives and intellectual influences of the movement’s founders, shedding light on how the many components of critical race theory eventually formed into a movement.

Through archival research and interviews with scholars like Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, and Jean Stefancic, Aja Y. Martinez and Robert O. Smith provide the personal side of critical race theory. They reveal that despite the Marxist menace it has recently been made out to be, critical race theory is an organic extension of the Civil Rights movement, a deeply human and deeply American response to ongoing systemic injustice and inequity. An insightful exploration into the story of a movement, The Origins of Critical Race Theory narrates the hidden influences, fascinating characters, and intellectual struggles that informed critical race theory’s inception.

Authors Aja Martinez and Robert Smith are joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Dr. Shelly Wong and Dr. Rachel Grant to discuss “the power of Critical Race Theory as we serve communities of color around issues of race, racism, and other forms of domination” (Daniel Solórzano, author of Racial Microaggressions). Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and the authors will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THE ORIGINS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

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Aja Y. Martinez is Associate Professor of Latina/Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and author of the award-winning Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory.

Robert O. Smith is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Texas and Enrolled Citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. He is the author of More Desired than Our Own Salvation: The Roots of Christian Zionism and Comprehending Christian Zionism: Perspectives in Comparison.

Dr. Shelley Wong is an Associate Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in Multilingual/Multicultural Education. She received a BA in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at UCLA and an Ed.D.in Applied Linguistics from Columbia Teachers College. Her research interests include womanist, Critical Race and interfaith perspectives on justice, peace and reconciliation; dialogic inquiry, socio-cultural approaches to literacy, and critical multiculturalism. Dr. Wong is author of Dialogic Approaches to TESOL:  Where the Ginkgo Tree Grows, Taylor & Francis and co-editor with Ilham Nasser and Lawrence N. Berlin of Examining education, media and dialogue under occupation:  The case of Palestine and Israel, Bristol, U.K.: Multilingual Matters.  She is also co-editor with Elaisa Sánchez-Gosnell, Anne Marie Foerster-Lu, & Lori Dodson of (2018) Teachers as Allies:  Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students.  

Dr. Wong became involved in the peace movement in high school when she joined Yalim (Daughters of Peace) at the Los Angeles Hollywood Los Feliz Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and attended demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Asian American Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament in New York in the 1980s.  Most recently she was a Fulbright Scholar at Birzeit University in the Occupied West Bank, Palestine.  She wrote “From the U.S. Mexican border to Palestine: A call to critical literacy and action for the Scholars Speak Out column of the Journal of Language and Literacy Education.

Rachel Grant is a scholar. Her work is informed by critical race and critical multicultural theory, womanist and feminist theory, critical multiculturalism, and sociocultural theory. Grant’s research interests reflect critical pedagogical approaches to literacy and academic achievement for linguistically and racially diverse students with a particular focus on urban settings. She received her BA in History from Howard University, MA in Literacy Education from University of the District of Columbia, and PhD in Literacy Education from University of Maryland, College Park.

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